USMNT win, Spirit lose another home heartbreaker, and more: Monday Freedom Kicks
Happy Monday, everyone. It was a Nor’easter weekend for us, wet and dreary. We dry off on this Monday by reviewing some of the news from the weekend:
Youth shine as USMNT breeze past Peru (SSFC)
The USMNT played down in Orlando, and the youth movement is here! It was a 4-1 win by the home team.
Washington Spirit stunned by late Angel City FC goal in 1-0 loss: Match report (Green Line Soccer)
Ugh, yet another late loss by the Spirit at home, and they’ve now lost 5 of their last 6 at Audi Field.
A wild #MLSAfterDark match for the Black-and-Red. Kimito Nono gets his first 2 goals for DC United as they draw Vancouver on the road.
Loudoun United destroyed Sporting Jacksonville on the road, winning 4-1.
Curacao complete sensational comeback from 3-0 down to beat Costa Rica (NL Times)
The wildest match of the weekend belongs to Costa Rica-Curaçao. Costa Rica, up 3-0 in the 2nd half, saw Curaçao rattle off 4 straight goals to come from behind and win. Concacaf Nations League is the greatest tournament ever.
Spain win U20 Women’s World Cup to continue global dominance (ESPN)
Spain win another trophy. They capture the U-20 Women’s World Cup over the weekend.
Seventeen titles in five years – why Spain are a dominant force (BBC)
Speaking of Spain, 17 international titles since 2021…that’s astounding. They’re the first nation to hold the World Cup and Women’s World Cup concurrently, and they’ll be looking to hang onto one of those trophies in Brazil next summer.
LAFC part ways with head coach Marc Dos Santos (MLS)
In a surprising move, LAFC have fired their first year head coach after dropping to 6th in the Western Conference standings.
Republic of Ireland put controversy aside to earn impressive win over Israel (The Guardian)
Ireland, after some talk that they would boycott their Nations League match against Israel, ultimately decided to play, and they won 3-0.
Once again, Barça’s broke and they will be homeless for a while as the Camp Nou continues to undergo renovations.
Enjoy the day, y’all.
So Greece beat Germany 1-0 yesterday in UEFA Nations League group stage yesterday.
And Charles Boehm on his weekly round up on the league site had this to say on the match with Vancouver:
I will be honest, I could not believe the result. It was great. I expected a loss. I watched Weiler’s pregame press conference and he said that it will take a few years to be in contention for playoffs. He reminded us that DCU was last in the entire league last year. Someone posted an article about team spending on players. I saw that DCU was about the same as last year. That kind of tells me that ownership gives the Front Office a budget that hasn’t changed. The owners are handicapping the team in acquiring talent. So they need to turnover players to get to where they want to be. I hope Weiler returns because he strikes me as very clear on what he wants and what he needs to get there. Some of the players that we question as to why they are playing is because he hasn’t found the replacement he wanted. I am convinced of that. I only remember Lesne doing like for like substitution and not really changing formations in game. I think that is part of what Weiler is talking about in quality of players. I believe Weiler is trying to do tactical changes in game and not having enough players who can do that. I see changes but I think ownership has to buy in to wanting to win and spending some money. They don’t have to be Atlanta crazy but they can spend smart. Maybe ownership is also gun shy after the last several coaches.
Very surprised to see something saying that spending on players hasn’t increased this year. By my math, spending has increased DRASTICALLY this year when you figure in transfer fees. Sure, Benteke made like $4M, but Baribo’s transfer fee matches that without even considering his salary.
https://www.spotrac.com/mls/cap/_/year/2026
https://www.spotrac.com/mls/cap/_/year/2025
We might be talking about different things. Salary Totals are still low both years. Look at the teams with the lower payrolls and you see those are generally teams that don’t do well.
https://www.capology.com/us/mls/payrolls/
So with 8 games remaining we are 3 points behind the NY teams in 8th and 9th plus Cincy in 10th. Orlando has a 4 pt lead on us in 7th. We have a game in hand on Orlando and NYC, but not on NYRB and Cincy. We have a 1 pt lead on Cbus and Toronto in 12th and 13th. We have a 3 pt lead on ATL in 14th and a 6 point lead on Montrael in 15th. We have a game in hand on all 4 teams below us in the stands. We really need to get 3 points out of that Cincy makeup game. We also need STL to beat NYRB on Wednesday evening.
DCU’s next league game is at Miami on Oct 10th. We need at least a draw out of that game.
Getting a draw in Miami seems a tad ambitious, but if we can take 3 points on the road in Cincinnati, that would be huge.
How does the Paderborn match, for which I’m stuck with tickets, figure in a calculation?
Definitely affects fixture congestion.
Miami is surprisingly not that great at home and tends to get a lot of draws. Getting a result is still a longshot, but perhaps not quite as long as it might seem.
If we shoot the ball on target, even directly at the GK, there’s a chance we can score a lot of goals. Maybe enough to make up for the chances we give up.
I’ve backed Adrian all season but 5 home losses out of 6 games is simple unacceptable. I don’t know what has to change but something has to. We were firmly in contention for the shield and now we’re in danger of losing a home playoff game?!
I know there has been a large churn in players, but they have a lot of good players. For me I don’t see a consistent attacking shape. What I mean is they don’t always have connection with attacking mids or outside backs on attack. My take on not scoring, but multiple games to adjust and not seeing changes has me wondering if the coaches are adjusting or me not understanding whats going on, which is possible.
He doesn’t use personnel right, certainly hasn’t this season.
We’ve scraped a number of games marginally, and when you have Trin et al working overtime for that sorta of grind, the configuration is off.
LAFC firing Marc Dos Santos is a lot less surprising than hiring him in the first place.
I’m just surprised he made it this long. I was convinced they were going to leave him in Kansas City when they lost that game
Nono made the MLS Team of the Matchday this week
The NWSL Atlanta expansion team has revealed its branding.
Name : Atlanta City FC
Colors: Red and Georgia Peach
Crest: “a red phoenix surrounded by a dogwood shape, laid inside a circular crest “
https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/50050971/nwsl-expansion-club-atlanta-city-fc-unveils-red-georgia-peach-branding
Besides the MLR draft at the end of last month, Old Glory DC has been quite busy this offseason. As Simon Cross transitioned from being the Head Coach to being Director of Development and Player Pathways back on Sept 3. Then tonight OGDC announced their new Head Coach Agustín “Cuca” Cavalier. Cavalier has been the Head Coach of Anthem Rugby Carolina which he led to their first ever MLR victories this past season after 2 winless seasons. He was also the Head Coach of the Dallas Jackals in their final season where they reached the Western Conference semifinals. He also serves as the Head Coach of the USA Eagles U-23 Men’s team and is the Assistant Coach for Forwards & Breakdown for the senior USA Eagles Men’s team.
Cavalier is an Argentinian who played for the U19 Team at the U19 World Championship in France in 2000. He ended up representing Italy at the international level having met the residency requirements. Though he never saw the field in a test match he did see the field with the Italy “A” Team. He spent time in France’s 3rd tier for a couple seasons then Italy’s top flight for over a decade.
Simon Cross: https://oldglorydc.com/simon-cross-director-of-rugby-development-player-pathways/
Agustín “Cuca” Cavalier: https://rugbywrapup.com/2026/09/old-glory-dc-names-agustin-cuca-cavalieri-as-new-head-coach/